Urbanisation - Question of Cities

Imaginations, protests and politics for better cities in 2026

The rapid development and redevelopment in cities in the business-as-usual mode has meant an extractive cost to nature with millions of people having no say. Cities built this way have led to unimaginably high levels of pollution, rising heat and…

Reading cities through stories, writers and lenses

Cities unravel layers in their books through trivia, history, lived experiences captured in books, monographs and other pages. The written word matters even in this digitally-driven age and books bring alive people of a city, its streets and neighbourhoods, hidden…

How changing climate and cities influence people’s lives

When the world is confronted with climate change and its intensifying effects, studies and research give concrete shape to the impacts. International and national reports, some short-term work and others long-term depth work that focus on rising heat, river pollution,…

‘Cities that care’: A blueprint for feminist cities

A city is the ultimate act of an inclusive democratic society, a political act. It is also an important vehicle for the aspirations of equality of historically marginalised like the poor, women, caste and gender minorities, and people with different…

A farce, a road map legitimising environmental destruction

It took the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation nine long years to prepare and release the draft zonal master plan for the eco-sensitive zone of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, thanks largely to sustained pressure and court battles by activists. Glaring omissions…

Fault lines beneath the Himalayan green: Caste, codes, disappearing wisdom

In Shimla, Kullu, Joshimath, disaster is less a surprise than the consequence of “development.” An estimated one lakh hectares of farmland in Uttarakhand have slipped from villagers to land speculation and construction in 20 years. Patchwork code enforcement, caste inequity,…

Private space and public interest in the Indian city

How we choose to imagine the city fundamentally affects whether democratic urban governance serves public interest or gets compromised by increasing privatisation. We tend to imagine it as a conceptual model translatable into technical frameworks such as a master plan.…

‘Rivers have emotions, like human beings. Their waters rise’

As the plan to develop the Mula-Mutha riverfront in Pune gathers momentum, many residents and environmental activists believe it’s a death knell for the river. Architect Sarang Yadwadkar, among those in the forefront resisting the project, thinks that Pune may…

Designing urban spaces for children’s mental well-being

In national emergencies such as pandemics, natural disasters, and war-like situations, it is the physical and social fabric that keeps the society together and also safeguards the mental well-being of children. Even otherwise, they require spaces that cater to their…

A feminist lens to address heat waves in India

The gendered impact of heat is beginning to be acknowledged but the need is for a feminist approach to address the issues of livelihood and health that arise from heat waves. This means centering well-being and care at the heart…